Same Love

“At seventeen, Adam has suspected for a while that he might be gay. His sketchbook has become full of images of good-looking men, and he isn’t attracted to any of the girls he knows. When he reveals his feelings to his devout parents, they send him to a Christian camp, warning him that there will be no room in their lives for a gay son. The last thing Adam expects is to meet someone he is deeply attracted to; unfortunately, Paul is more committed to his Christian faith than Adam is.

Adam tries to bury his attraction to Paul by concentrating on his art and his new friends Rhonda and Martin. When it becomes clear how unhappy Rhonda and Martin are at Camp Revelation, Adam and Paul are both forced to question what the church tells them about love. But with a whole camp full of people trying to get Adam to change who he is, what kind of chance do Adam and Paul have to find love and a life with each other?”

I got an ARC in return for an honest review on NetGalley.

At first I thought this was going to be a piece similar to The God Box (not a bad thing at all). I was glad that it went a bit beyond that book. It allowed different views on religion to sprout and expand. There was a focus on not just the issue that many religious people have with being gay, but also the issues with premarital sex and hypocrisy. This was a fantastic first look at major issues with organized religion (not religion itself as loving God and having a relationship with Him or other gods and goddess is not inherently bad). This book will save lives.

The pace is very quick. I read the book in two or three hours. I would have read it in one sitting, but I took my lunch at about half way through the book. It did not dwell on any issues for a long period of time, which was both good and bad. I felt there should have been more discussion on one of the major events towards the end of the book or at least some resources for teens going through the issues that the book raises. This book covers a lot of hard ground, I think adding the resources would help.

I am having a hard time describing how much I love this book without spoiling major points. The book is very much needed. It focused on spirituality and different ways of viewing Christianity. It also allowed by the end two gay characters to have a relationship that fit into those religious views (no sex before marriage, which is drastically not the norm when it comes to books about relationships especially about gay men).

I do have one note to the author: Thank you. This book is very important and I am beyond thankful for your work to provide it for teens (and adults) that need it. If I had this book as a teenager, I might have had an easier time with coming to terms with my religion and spirituality especially when I had issues based around faith when it came to my family. You have earned a very loud fan that will be promoting this book to people that can get this book into the hands of teens where it can be helpful.